


Braids

by yellowleather



Series: Little Moments [1]
Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Braids, Gen, Hair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 14:37:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2391962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yellowleather/pseuds/yellowleather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gabrielle is having trouble with her hair, so Xena gets it out of the way for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Braids

Gabrielle sat with her long skirt tucked under her knees and twirled her hair between her fingers. She hadn’t considered hair being a problem when she took off after the warrior. It was thick, but fine so it wouldn’t stay in a bun no matter how hard she tried. She could make a serviceable braid along the top, but the poor girl’s arms were aching by the time she got to the crown of her head and they always fell when the sun was highest in the sky. So she’d stopped bothering. Instead, she played with it down, trying to curl the ends around her fingers and praying it would hold the shape.

Xena was still eating the rest of her soup. She grimaced when the burnt mushroom hit her tongue. Gabrielle looked up just in time to catch the look of disgust on her friend’s face and winced in sympathy.

“I still haven’t quite figured out how hot that frying pan gets. Campfires are a little different from our oven back home.” 

“Uh huh.” The brunette muttered after shoveling another spoonful in her mouth. 

Gabrielle fell silent, trying her best not to annoy Xena any more than she already had that day. She pulled her long hair over one shoulder and separated it into two chunks. She twisted both pieces and then wrapped them around each other and knotted it at the end. She admired her work, but sat still hoping the style wouldn’t fall. 

Xena dropped the spoon in her bowl and set it at her feet. She looked up at her traveling companion and furrowed her brow. 

“Did you purposefully put a knot your hair?” Xena asked.

Gabrielle turned her whole upper body to face the other woman so she wouldn’t disturb the braid. 

“Hey. It’s staying isn’t it.” 

“Uh. I guess.” Xena stirred the spoon in the bowl at her feet, but couldn’t bring herself to eat any more. “How long do you think it’s gonna stay like that?”

“Are you mocking my braiding skills?” 

Xena gave her a sly smile. The two were still cautious around each other, but Gabrielle had learned that this particular smile meant the warrior was in a good mood. As soon as she relaxed and returned the smile, the knot Gabrielle had so carefully placed in her tresses slid out letting the braid unravel completely. 

Xena snorted and shook her head. 

“Son of a -” Gabrielle huffed and flicked her hair back behind her as Xena continued to chuckle. “Oh, you think you can do better? I don’t see you doing anything with *your* hair.” 

Without a word, Xena stood and stepped behind the blonde. She dropped to her knees and began raking her fingers through Gabrielle’s hair, releasing any tangles. 

“Are you actually going to braid m-” 

“Look straight ahead, or it’ll be crooked.” Xena said, matter-of-factly.

Gabrielle relaxed into Xena’s gentle touch. She watched the flames of their campfire as Xena brushed her bangs down so they weren’t caught in the braid. She gathered up some of the hair at the top of the blonde’s head and broke it into three sections. Xena began weaving the pieces together in a neat braid, capturing more hair as she slowly and methodically worked her way to Gabrielle’s crown.

“Where’d you learn how to do this?” Gabrielle asked to break the silence.

“What do you mean where? At home.” 

“I just mean...you don’t seem like the type of girl that spent much time playing with her hair. My sister and I used to practice different hairdos on each other at night when we couldn’t sleep, but my braids were always crooked.” 

“Mom wouldn’t let me cut my hair, so I tied it back. Kept it outta my way.”

“Yeah, but…” Gabrielle ran her fingers over the perfect plaits on top of her head. “When did you learn this?”

Xena smiled wistfully, remembering how she’d learned.

“Lyceus heard some story from a traveling bard about a man who got his strength from his hair.” She paused, laughing at how ridiculous that sounded before continuing the braid down to Gabrielle’s nape. Her fingers brushed against Gabrielle’s neck making her shiver. “He refused to cut his hair and mom didn’t have the energy to fight with him. It got so long we used to tell him he’d have to be careful not to sit on it and hurt himself.”

Gabrielle turned her head, taking Xena’s hand with her as she held onto her work. “You braided your brother’s hair?”

“It started out as a prank.” She turned Gabrielle back around. “He was so proud of how long it was getting and he talked about it more than any of the girls. He brushed it constantly. So I got my friend Flora to show me how. While he was sleeping I braided the side of his head with ribbons and bows.”

“Was he mad?” Gabrielle asked.

“No. He was so happy to have a way to keep it long *and* out of the way that he made me show him how to do it himself.” Xena remembered his beaming smile at the solution to his problem. “I think it looked better with the bows though.”

Gabrielle giggled. Xena leaned into her pack and pulled out a long piece of leather cord to tie off the end of Gabrielle’s hair.

“There. All done.” Xena stood and walked over to her armor.

The smaller woman trailed her fingers over the perfectly centered braid and pulled the tail over her shoulder to inspect it. Xena unsheathed her sword, making Gabrielle jump. Without a word, Xena held the blade up so Gabrielle could see what she’d done. Gabrielle angled the sword to see the top of her head and was amazed at how perfect it looked.

“It’s beautiful.” She beamed, reminding Xena of her brother. 

Xena resheathed her sword, while Gabrielle played with the ends of her hair. 

“I might have to make you my personal hair stylist.” Gabrielle teased. 

“Is that how you’d have me spend the rest of my life? Doing your hair?” Xena sounded offended.

“Well...no. I just…” 

Xena rolled her eyes before gathering their dirty dishes to wash. As she worked, she could feel Gabrielle’s eyes on her. The blonde was lost in thought as she imagined a skinny, black-haired girl sitting by herself and wrapping her hair around and around until she figured out the perfect braids to embarrass her brother. 

“What?”

“Huh?” 

“You’re staring at me.”

“Oh! Sorry, I’m just... having a hard time picturing *you* playing pranks on anyone. You’re just so...” 

Xena raised an eyebrow and stood up straight.

“...you.” Gabrielle waved her arms at her for emphasis and prayed she wasn’t offending Xena, now that she’d gotten the woman to open up.

She pulled her legs in close and sat uncomfortably as Xena narrowed her eyes into a steely gaze. The brunette picked up the dishes.

“You’ve never seen a prank, until you’ve seen me pull one.” Her voice was deep and deadly serious, but the glint in the taller woman’s eye gave her away.

“Is that so?” 

“Oh yeah.” 

The warrior moved toward the nearby lake. As she passed her, Xena leaned in close to Gabrielle’s ear. In her lowest register she said, “Just wait until your birthday.”*


End file.
